1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a separate mat for rent. More specifically, the invention relates to a separate mat for rent which is relatively light in weight, enables a mat body and a base to be separated from each other and detachably attached together, and permits the mat body and the base to be intimately adhered together during the use, offering excellently fixed performance, stability during the use and safety.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dust-control mats that are used being laid in porches and entrances of shops, offices and general houses can be classified into two types, i.e., separate mats and unitary mats.
These mats have generally been used on a rent basis; i.e., the mats are rented to the customers for a predetermined period of time, and are then recovered, washed, regenerated, and are rented again to the customers.
Among these mats, the separate mat has a base that serves as an underlayer and a mat body that can be mechanically separated from each other. In a rental service business, the mat bodies only are removed, recovered and are delivered. Moreover, the mat bodies only are washed and regenerated.
In the case of the unitary mats, the base that serves as an underlayer and the mat body have been constructed as a unitary structure. In the rental service business, therefore, the whole mat in which the base and the mat body are constructed as a unitary structure must be recovered and delivered. Moreover, the unitary mat as a whole must be washed and regenerated.
In the case of the separate mat for rent, the base made of a rubber or the like can be used semipermanently once it is laid. Therefore, the mat body only needs be produced making it possible to offer many kinds of mats at a reduced cost so that different kinds of the mats can be used.
Compared with the unitary mats, furthermore, the mat body only needs be recovered, carried, transited and stored presenting such advantages that the mats are light in weight and are not bulky, enabling the cost for distribution to be decreased, reducing the burden of washing, and allowing the mats to be washed and regenerated at a low cost.
The separate mat, however, requires some adhesion mechanism between the mat and the base made of a rubber or the like. If the adhesion mechanism does not favorably work, the adhesive force Is often lost between the mat and the rubber base arousing such inconvenience that the position is deviated and the mat is turned up deteriorating the appearance. Moreover, safety is lost for the persons who walk on it and function of wiping the shoes is lost.
Furthermore, the mat body and the rubber base must be set intimately and flatly so that the operation efficiency is at the time of the mounting operation. In an ordinary separate mat In which the mat body is placed on a framed base rubber, furthermore, the edge of the base frame is higher than the floor surface against which a pedestrian may stumble or which hinders the door from being opened and closed.
As for the adhesion mechanism between the mat body and the base in a separate mat, a physical and partial adhesion mechanism based upon a face fastener has generally been used as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7450/1984.
If described in detail, a female portion (loop portion) of the face fastener is installed on the back surface of the base fabric of the mat body and a male portion (hooked or cut portion) of the face fastener are installed on the upper surface of the base.
Moreover, several mechanisms have been proposed already in regard to adhering the mat body and the base together by using the magnetic force of a magnetic material as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 28413/79, Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 16976/1984, Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 95079/1985 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 118774/1985.
In the separate mat, the following methods can be contrived in regard to detachably adhering the mat body and the base together.
Physical adhesion:
1. Adhesion using a face fastener. PA1 2. Adhesion based on a combination of rugged surfaces. PA1 3. Adhesion using a mechanical fastening device. PA1 4. Adhesion using a magnetic material. PA1 5. Chemical adhesion.
With the adhesion system using the face fastener, however, the adhesion strength of the face fastener inevitably decreases after the mat for dust control is washed and regenerated repetitively.
The face fastener, in many cases, is installed on portions of the mat surface, i.e., installed at four corners and at the centers of the sides in general.
When the face fastener is installed partly, e.g., on four corners, however, wrinkles develop when non-adhered portions of the sides are trod by the shoes arousing a problem in regard to safety (walking) and deteriorating the appearance. When the face fastener is used along the whole sides, the mat becomes undulated after it is washed repetitively due to a difference in the shrinkage between the mat cloth and the fastener portion.
When the mat as a whole is viewed, furthermore, the adhesion portion becomes thicker by the thicknesses of the male portion and the female portion of the face fastener, deteriorating the appearance and causing a problem in that the door cannot be smoothly opened or closed.
From the standpoint of manufacturing steps, the face fastener must be stitched after the fabric is prepared, which causes the rising of the manufacturing cost.
In the case of the adhesion using rugged surfaces and a mechanical fastening device, a shape must be formed on the back surface of the fabric which inevitably results in an increase in cost and weight. Moreover, adhesive force is difficult to obtain in the vertical direction, rugged portions themselves are worn out through the repetitive washing of the fabric, and the fabric on the surface is deteriorated (worn out) causing the life of the fabric to be shortened.
In the case of the adhesion using the adhesive material, the adhesive force decreases upon the infiltration of rain, sand and the like, making it difficult to stably maintain the adhesive force under all whether conditions.
In contrast with the above-mentioned adhesion methods, the adhesion utilizing the magnetic material maintains the adhesive force favorably and stably against changes in an external environment, varies little even after many times of washing, and stably maintains the adhesive force as a whole.
With the adhesion system using the magnetic material, however, the base that serves as an underlayer and the mat body must be strongly and evenly adhered together to such an extent that they endure the use maintaining a sufficiently large adhesive force. For this purpose, the adhesion surface must be smooth and the gap must be as small as possible between the adhesion surfaces. In the case of a mat on which pile yarns are implanted, however, it is not possible to completely avoid the ruggedness caused by the stitching of pile yarns on the backing layer on the back surface of the fabric. When an ordinary magnetic material is used, therefore, it is in many cases difficult to establish a sufficiently strongly and uniformly fixed state. The above-mentioned problem can be solved to some extent by reinforcing the adhesive force by using a magnetic material having stronger magnetic force. In the mats for rent, however, it is difficult to employ a magnetic material having a particularly strong magnetic force from the standpoint of cost and weight. Besides, when the mat is adhered using a magnetic material having a particularly strong magnetic force, it becomes difficult to maintain homogeneity of adhesion. Moreover, once the mat is fixed in a wrinkled state, it becomes difficult to correct the wrinkles.
Because of such circumstances, the magnetic force has not yet been practically utilized for fixing the mat to the base though many proposals have been made in regard to utilizing the magnetic force.